Despite press reports suggesting that further scrutiny may be needed, it appears unlikely at this time that Worldwide Pants and/or CBS will conduct an internal investigation following David Letterman’s televised revelation on Oct. 1 that he had affairs with female staff members. Press reports have indicated that the host had a relationship with former assistant Stephanie Birkitt, 34, and an employee in the 1990s who was one of his peers. A spokesman for Worldwide Pants (the production company that produces The Late Show for CBS) indicated to EW that, like most companies, it circulates an employee manual each year that addresses harassment, but there are no specific rules barring sexual relationships between supervisors and managers. ”Dave is not in violation of our policy and no one has ever raised a complaint against him,” the spokesman said.
CBS would not comment officially, but insiders say the network continues to support its late-night star, who personally made the decision to come clean about his workplace affairs. A source on the show said Letterman improvised most of his “do you feel like a little story?” segment last Thursday, which included some of his signature folksy humor but also featured sobering statements about the extortion attempt being “quite scary” and “terrifying” (48 Hours producer Robert “Joe” Halderman has been indicted for allegedly making the threats – he pled not guilty t0 the charges). Worldwide Pants is not streaming Letterman’s now infamous revelation on CBS.com, though the company does not always put all his memorable clips online. Bootleg clips of Letterman’s revelation have been pulled from YouTube by CBS, citing copyright laws.
After a routine break on Friday, production on The Late Show resumes today. Tonight’s guests are Steve Martin and Lea Michele from the Fox drama Glee (there have been no changes in booking since Thursday’s episode, the spokesman said). Other guests for the week include Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse), Vince Vaughn, and musical performances by Kiss and Natalie Merchant.
Overall, the news from Nielsen has only been positive for Letterman in his battle with Conan O’Brien, the new host of The Tonight Show. Letterman won the first full week of the 2009-10 season in viewers and all key demos, his first such win since 2005.
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Considering that Les Moonves had an affair with a CBS employee while he was married to someone else, it would be hard for CBS to take any action against Letterman. After 4 years, Moonves got a divorce and married the CBS employee, Julie Chen.
Exactly. Not to mention that these were not CBS employees. They were employees of David’s production company which is separate from CBS.
hmmmmm….the focus sure has been removed from the extortionist….Guess he wasnt so dumb…Come on people…Wisen UP!
consenting adults – why the fuss – it’s not like they don’t know what they are doing…$ $ $ $ $ $
Now let’s see if Mrs. Letterman divorces Davie boy…after all, she is the mother of his child.$$$$$
Would you stop making a fuss over consenting adults having relationships (how many readers met their significant other at work? Many, I am sure)and start covering this matter as the alleged crime that was committed AGAINST Dave?
EXTORTION does not PAY!!! No matter how decent you were , you’re not now Halderman.We love David Letterman.I’m glad DL nipped it in the bud.
Letterman is scum. The women he had affairs with are whores. Very simple.
Sounds like you got cheated on in your past, time to move on.
Any woman that would sleep with her boss is obviously using that for her benefit. That makes her a whore.
Got troll?
Would everyone stop this fuss over consenting adults have a relationship. These women who want to have an affair with a celebrity and then use it later to blackmail them or go on talk TV shows is just getting out of hand.
So what if he had an affair it’s none of our business. He is a great talk show host so leave him and his family alone.
The only one I feel for is the woman married to him. He was in a 23 year relationship with her (after 7 years that makes it common law in most states) and during that relationship–including the fact she bore him a son–he’s at work doing some of the younger female staffers. That’s got to hurt. As far as the affairs not being anybody business–sorry, HE made it everyone’s business when he dropped this bomb on his TV show. Yeah–Dave’s the man all right–FAIL!
New York is not one of those states.
I just hope David’s wife didn’t find out with the rest of America. Things happen in the work enviroment. KUDO’s to him for having the guts to face the issue head-on!
What has happened to the women in this country?? What kind of descent woman would sleep with that goofy looking weasel anyhow??
@ Carol, Sam, Mary Ellen: How would you feel Letterman was married to one of your family members and “horribly hurt” them. This not a victimless act by a harmless guy, it is infidelity and the breaking of a vow. But as long as Dave gets a few chuckles from his audience, who cares, right? I hope he gets taken to the cleaners in an extremely nasty divorce settlement.
Why did Halderman wait until Dave married his baby momma? I’m disappointed in Letterman, but it’s not like Stephanie was an underaged girl. Why the heck was Halderman reading her diaries? Did she know he had made copies? I think people should be focusing on the extortionist. When it comes down to it, who is(are) the victim(s) here? My heart goes out to Regina. Dr. Phil, Dave needs you!
At 34 years of age, she was no innocent. More likely she was using Letterman.
The national conversation has been taken over by trolls who repeat the same nonsensical babble, i.e. it was consensual (not), he wasn’t married (in committed relationship, blah blah blah
It’s a war for people’s minds and MSM is demonstrating how it became a dying organism.
Sexual harassment is clear. Letterman is a self-confessed creep. Ratings are artificially high because people hope for more ‘juicy’ details.